After getting dropped by its workers’ compensation provider, Pulaski County has now secured coverage for next year. The county commissioners Monday approved a policy using the Indiana state pool. The cost ended up being about $164,000, which was less than $2,000 more than the county’s policy with the Indiana Public Employers’ Plan.
Insurance agent Gene Timm said the big challenge is the county’s EMS Department. “They’re all similar types of injuries: shoulder injuries, back injuries, things of that nature,” he explained. “And it’s typically the same shoulder.”
Timm said the county has taken a step in the right direction by buying power stretchers for the ambulances, reducing the amount of lifting that EMS crews have to do. But he noted that many of the biggest claims involve people who no longer work for the county.
A representative with insurance company Bliss McKnight said that Pulaski County’s workers’ comp claims have been above average, but noted that many counties with their own EMS departments experience similar issues. Timm said Pulaski County was turned down for workers’ comp three times.
Meanwhile, the county saw almost a seven-percent decrease in the cost of its property and casualty insurance next year, and the commissioners agreed to renew the policy with Bliss McKnight.
